Snook Fishing

A quote from Jeff Klinkenburg award winning writer from the St. Petersburg Times, "There might be better Snook fisherman and Trout fisherman and Red fisherman, but not many who excel at all three as does Capt. Van Hubbard. If fish are alive Capt. Van Hubbard figures he can catch them." And this was in August of 1980. Just think about how much experience he has for your trip now, with 27 more years guiding in the Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor area?

Snook are now Florida's most targeted game fish, even surpassing Bass in recent years. These days almost everyone claims to be an expert snooker. Let's just say that Captain Van Hubbard started live minnow fishing for Snook, Reds, and Trout in the early 1970s. Capt. Van moved to the Boca Grande/Charlotte Harbor area in 1982 for the great Snook and Tarpon fishing. Many of our Snook are almost big enough or too big for the slot, but we usually catch plenty of fish; some fall in the slot. Trophy fishing has improved every year with new regulations we can realistically expect even better catching.

These game fish are "Catch & Release ONLY" from May-August and also from December 15 - February 1. You have a good trophy/big fish opportunity in the C&R seasons. We have fun C&R with numerous smaller ones, best day 158. The best news is you can come back and catch the same fish next year and it will be even bigger.

Capt. Van usually fishes with live Minnows, if they are available. He is good with the cast net and almost always comes thru if any are around. We also fish with lures or flies and they work great. Our back country and in shore fishery offers great action and something for dinner most of the time. We have so many fish around here its challenging to list them. Of course Snook, Trout and Reds, is our GRANDE SLAM. You get the idea; we have fun fishing and catching any time you can visit.

If we are fishing the Minnows you have two options with departure. We can go catch Minnows together leaving by 6:00 AM or arrange pick up at about 8:00 AM after wards. You usually get more fishing time with the early departure. The all day trip is from 6:00 AM - 2:00 PM (8 hours), either way. We always have lures if we need or want them. We can not depend upon bait fish until the waters warm up usually some time in March.

Spring and Tarpon Season, (April thru June) are very busy and we recommend reservations as soon as you know your dates. Some dates are booked as much as a year in advance... Remember that Snook fishing is often best in the no-take seasons of May, June, and July.

Our Tarpon/Snook and other fishing trips are from Stump Pass Marina unless other wise agreed upon. The marina (MAP) is about an hour south of the Tampa Bay area, less than and hour south from Sarasota/Bradenton, about an hour north of Ft. Myers, and less than three hours from Orlando . LET'S GO FISHIN' WITH CAPTAIN VAN HUBBARD SOON.

The Other fishing trips and sight seeing, bird watching, wildlife photography, remote island shelling tours, water transportation, viewing areas real estate, etc... Customize the trip to your wants. We can work with most needs to enjoy the Charlotte Harbor, Boca Grande area.